Winemaker Bill Reading gives ‘West Side Stories’ a cool home for live storytelling

“The whole idea of storytelling has always been very appealing to me,” says full-time winemaker and part-time storyteller Bill Reading.

Reading, founder of Sonoma Portworks, smiles as he adds, “I think I’ve been interested in the power of stories even longer than I’ve been making wine.”

It’s been 22 years since Sonoma-resident Reading founded his small port-making operation, inspired by the idea of creating new kinds of dessert wines, blending ingredients in nontraditional ways to make an array of high-grade ports, sherries and other aperitifs.

The storytelling part came later, and – as is often the case in a well-told yarn – it was almost an accident.